Justin Trudeau has gone back to the classroom to reply to Conservative attack ads, releasing ads of his own that show him asking for an end to negativity in politics.

Justin Trudeau has gone back to the classroom to reply to Conservative attack ads, releasing ads of his own that show him sitting at teacher's desk, turning off the TV and asking for an end to negativity in politics.

OTTAWA—Justin Trudeau has gone back to the classroom to reply to Conservative attack ads, releasing ads of his own that show him sitting at teacher’s desk, turning off the TV and asking for an end to negativity in politics.

“Canadians deserve better,” Trudeau says in the ad, after he picks up the remote and shuts off the Conservative ad.

He is sitting at the edge of a teacher’s desk, the TV and a blackboard, complete with math calculations, is in the background.

“We can keep mistrusting and finding flaws in each other or we can pull together and get to work.”

Trudeau, a former teacher before he entered politics, then says that he’s worked hard to win his seat in the Montreal riding of Papineau — which he has won twice since 2008 — and the Liberal leadership on April 14.

“Now I’m going to work hard to earn your trust.”

Like the Conservative ads, which refer to his “famous name,” the 41-year-old Trudeau doesn’t directly mention that he’s the son of a former prime minister, but he says: “I’m a son, but I’m also a father and although I am a leader, I am here to serve. I am Justin Trudeau, and together, we will build a better country.”

Senior Liberal sources say that the ad will be broadcast nationally, though no details have been released on the amount spent or what programs have been targeted. Conservatives, as a rule, also don’t give details on their spending or targets of negative ads, but they usually place them on programs watched by Canadians who don’t follow the political news that closely.

Trudeau told reporters on Wednesday morning that the ads are based on conversations he held with people while conducting his six-month-long leadership campaign, which featured unexpectedly large crowds and a deliberately upbeat tone.

“The one thing I’ve heard across the country is Canadians are tired of negativity, of cynicism, of attacks,” Trudeau told reporters as he headed into the weekly meeting of Liberal MPs and senators. Later Wednesday, the Liberal leader was heading to Labrador to campaign in a byelection where the party has high hopes for taking a seat away from the Conservatives on May 13.

Trudeau said attack ads may make for good politics, but bad government.

“If you attack and if you go negative and if you pander to Canadians’ worst instincts, instead of what is best and hopeful and great about Canada, you actually don’t develop the capacity to actually respond to the real challenges,” he said. “Now that Stephen Harper has divided Canadians and made them so cynical, it becomes very difficult to govern in a responsible, long-term way.”

A senior Liberal official said that the new Trudeau ads stick to his resolve to stay on the high road.

For instance, while Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t appear anywhere in the Conservative attack ad on Trudeau, the new Liberal leader puts his stamp of approval on this ad with his appearance, the official said.

“Canadians want to hear directly from our leader, which is why we put him front and centre; unlike the Conservatives, who know their leader is increasingly unpopular and out of touch with middle-class Canadians,” said the Liberal adviser, who asked for anonymity.

He also drew attention to the fact that Liberals have actually included the Conservative ad in the reply — that the Conservatives’ attack has backfired badly, drawing funds and support toward Trudeau since they were launched.

“They are working so well for us that we put their ad in our ad,” he said.

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